Switzerland
Switzerland, formally known as the Swiss Confederation (German: Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft) (French: Confédération suisse) (Italian: Confederazione svizzera) is a country located in Central Europe. Its government is republican, and the territory is divided in 26 cantons. History First arrivals At first, the species that inhabited Switzerland were the homo neanderthalensis, as proposed by the discovery of many tools and skeletons in the country. At about 40.000 BC, the homo sapiens had deposed this type of man. The wheel reached Switzerland near 5.000 BC thanks to the Mediterranean and the rivers Danube and Rhine. Later, the Bronze and Iron Age would come more or less like it was in the rest of Central Europe. From 500 BC to 400 AD the tribe of the Helvetians (they belong to the Indo-European family) settled in Switzerland, still the Romans came and put up their camps and fortifications to protect their Empire against the Germanic tribes. Switzerland saw 150 years of peaceful collaboration with the Romans. They also founded four of the most important Swiss trade, cultural and social cities: Zürich, Geneva, Laussane and Basel. The capital in the Roman times was Aventicum. Post-Roman era When the Germanic tribes invaded the Western Roman Empire, they collapsed it. So several tribes started to settle on Switzerland, like the Burgundians on the French part, and the Alamannen on the German part. Feudalism rised as the predominant system, with the Franks and the Burgundians being the most advanced, and on the other hand we had the Alamannen which were less organized. When Charlemagne died, Switzerland was split between Lotharingia and East Francia, but by 950 AD Otto I (German) seized control over the zone. The Confederation of 1291 The official birth of the Swiss Confederation is on August, 1st 1291, brought by the union of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden (rural communes). They united in order to defend from the Habsburgs of the North. The Habsburgs had to leave their place in Northern Switzerland and move to Austria. Later, Lucerne, Zürich, Bern, Zug and Glarus would join. Aaragau would be conquered from the Habsburgs by the Swiss encouraged by German Emperor Sigismund. Zürich would have a war against Schwyz and Glarus, but the last two would win and expand their territories. Some time after that, the Burgundian Wars would came and the Swiss allied with the French. The Burgundians were defeated at Grandson, Murten and Nancy (where Charles I died), and Bern seized the territory of Vaud. In 1481 the cities of Fribourg and Solothurn joined the Old Confederacy. Maximilian I of Austria would attack the Confederacy, since it did not accept his new taxes in 1499. Basle and Schaffhausen would support the Swiss, and they won. The two cities were accepted to the Confederacy in 1501 by consequence. The last city to join was Appenzell, the Confederation of 13 states was ready to go. Also, 1506 was the year in which the Swiss Guard reached the Papal States. The Pope elected the Swiss Mercenaries because the Confederacy's pikemen were very famous, prestigious and brave in those times. In the Peace of Westphalia (1648), Switzerland gained its formal independence from the Holy Roman Empire. Later, Switzerland would join the Savoyard-Tuscanian War in favour of Tuscany, but would shortly sign a white peace with Victor Amadeus II. Religion and ideology Swiss people are very variated on these aspects, but most people support a Confederacy (although that may change). Almost all the German cities follow the Swiss Reformed Church, and the rest cities are either Roman Catholics or Reformers too. Swiss people are very brave, and they use a lot their terrain to win their wars (seen in the Swabian War). They seek for prosperity and they are very patriotic too.